Emergency Relief Coordinator on aid worker deaths in Syria

(New York, 17 April 2013): UN Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos expressed her condolences today over the killing of another staff member of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in the northern city of Aleppo.

Mr. Yousef Lattouf is the eighteenth SARC staff member to die in the conflict in Syria.

Mr. Lattouf, a father of five, was guarding a SARC warehouse in the opposition-held area of Mashahad on 14 April when the warehouse was hit by a mortar. A second SARC volunteer was injured in the attack.

“My sympathy goes out to the family of Yousef Lattouf, and to the friends and families of all the humanitarian workers who have been killed in Syria,” said Ms. Amos.

“Nowhere in Syria is safe any more and humanitarian workers risk their lives every day to provide essential life-saving help. This is unacceptable. All parties must allow humanitarian aid and workers to pass safely into all areas of need. The recognized symbols of the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement must be respected.”

Mr. John Ging, OCHA’s Operations Director, visited the site of the latest killing with the SARC Director for Aleppo, Mr. Hail Assi. Mr. Ging condemned what he described as the continuing brutal violence resulting in the senseless loss of civilian lives.